driften — German conjugation
to drift
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | drifte | I drift |
| du | driftest | you drift |
| er/sie/es | driftet | he/she/it drifts |
| wir | driften | we drift |
| ihr | driftet | you (pl.) drift |
| sie/Sie | driften | they drift |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | driftete | I drifted |
| du | driftetest | you drifted |
| er/sie/es | driftete | he/she/it drifted |
| wir | drifteten | we drifted |
| ihr | driftetet | you (pl.) drifted |
| sie/Sie | drifteten | they drifted |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | bin gedriftet | I have drifted |
| du | bist gedriftet | you have drifted |
| er/sie/es | ist gedriftet | he/she/it has drifted |
| wir | sind gedriftet | we have drifted |
| ihr | seid gedriftet | you (pl.) have drifted |
| sie/Sie | sind gedriftet | they have drifted |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | war gedriftet | I had drifted |
| du | warst gedriftet | you had drifted |
| er/sie/es | war gedriftet | he/she/it had drifted |
| wir | waren gedriftet | we had drifted |
| ihr | wart gedriftet | you (pl.) had drifted |
| sie/Sie | waren gedriftet | they had drifted |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde driften | I will drift |
| du | wirst driften | you will drift |
| er/sie/es | wird driften | he/she/it will drift |
| wir | werden driften | we will drift |
| ihr | werdet driften | you (pl.) will drift |
| sie/Sie | werden driften | they will drift |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gedriftet sein | I will have drifted |
| du | wirst gedriftet sein | you will have drifted |
| er/sie/es | wird gedriftet sein | he/she/it will have drifted |
| wir | werden gedriftet sein | we will have drifted |
| ihr | werdet gedriftet sein | you (pl.) will have drifted |
| sie/Sie | werden gedriftet sein | they will have drifted |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | driftete |
| du | driftetest |
| er/sie/es | driftete |
| wir | drifteten |
| ihr | driftetet |
| sie/Sie | drifteten |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | drifte |
| ihr | driftet |